TX State Rep Toth tries to put brakes on high speed rail
May 3rd, 2020
May 2, 2020 - TRA Newswire -
A desperate Texas State Representative, Steve Toth (R-Conroe), doesn't want the Texas Department of Transportation to spend any time overseeing a high-speed rail project between Dallas and Houston. Toth sent a letter to Texas Department of Transportation Chairman J. Bruce Bugg that demands the agency stop assisting the railroad with any oversight.
The privately-financed project funded by Texas Central Railway has said repeatedly that it does not want state or federal handouts to build or run their bullet train railroad and only need to make sure it is following federal and state regulations.
In his letter Toth claims that "due to the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 shutdown we need to take action now in preparation for the constraints we will face when creating the next state budget. Texas Central originally told us their high-speed rail project from Houston to Dallas would cost $10 billion. Now their estimate is $30 billion, an increase of 200%. As a result, Texas Central’s CEO has admitted to funding problems in the wake of the Covid-19 shutdown."
“It’s intellectually dishonest to make the claims that these legislators are making,” said Rail Passengers President and CEO Jim Mathews in an April statement. “This is a group of dyed-in-the-wool opponents who are dissatisfied with the normal public-participation process for assessing large projects and have now turned to disinformation and specious claims to try to get their way. Open discussion of pros and cons usually helps mitigate downsides while enhancing gains, and legitimate policy disagreements should be welcomed. But this goes well beyond disagreement. Projects should rise and fall on their merits, and the merits of the Texas Central project are considerable.”
The Federal Railroad Administration is close to giving final line approval to Texas Central, according to press reports. As late as this past November, Texas Central estimated it will cost $15 billion to build the 240-mile train line while outside estimates have come in as high as $20 billion, not the inflated $30 billion that Toth indicated in his letter.
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A desperate Texas State Representative, Steve Toth (R-Conroe), doesn't want the Texas Department of Transportation to spend any time overseeing a high-speed rail project between Dallas and Houston. Toth sent a letter to Texas Department of Transportation Chairman J. Bruce Bugg that demands the agency stop assisting the railroad with any oversight.
The privately-financed project funded by Texas Central Railway has said repeatedly that it does not want state or federal handouts to build or run their bullet train railroad and only need to make sure it is following federal and state regulations.
In his letter Toth claims that "due to the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 shutdown we need to take action now in preparation for the constraints we will face when creating the next state budget. Texas Central originally told us their high-speed rail project from Houston to Dallas would cost $10 billion. Now their estimate is $30 billion, an increase of 200%. As a result, Texas Central’s CEO has admitted to funding problems in the wake of the Covid-19 shutdown."
“It’s intellectually dishonest to make the claims that these legislators are making,” said Rail Passengers President and CEO Jim Mathews in an April statement. “This is a group of dyed-in-the-wool opponents who are dissatisfied with the normal public-participation process for assessing large projects and have now turned to disinformation and specious claims to try to get their way. Open discussion of pros and cons usually helps mitigate downsides while enhancing gains, and legitimate policy disagreements should be welcomed. But this goes well beyond disagreement. Projects should rise and fall on their merits, and the merits of the Texas Central project are considerable.”
The Federal Railroad Administration is close to giving final line approval to Texas Central, according to press reports. As late as this past November, Texas Central estimated it will cost $15 billion to build the 240-mile train line while outside estimates have come in as high as $20 billion, not the inflated $30 billion that Toth indicated in his letter.
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